A classified tabulation of the regular articles of the American Journal of Physics for 1977 shows that the journal is properly described as a scholarly archival journal, a description which fits 80% of the regular articles published in that year. At most five regular articles, or 2%, would reasonably fit the category of educaton research.

We describe a new interdisciplinary course which explores the relations between physics and biology in terms of their conceptual structures and mathematical frameworks. The course is designed for senior undergraduatephysics students who have little or no background in the life sciences. In this paper we highlight the course content, its system of cross‐disciplinary literature resources, and several innovative aspects of the method used for evaluating students.

One prediction for the appearance of the starfield from a moving reference frame has been circulated widely despite physically objectionable features. We reexamine the physical basis for this effect. To the well‐known aberation and Doppler effects we add the transformation of intensity of light upon a change of reference frame. We integrate the transformed spectrum of a star, represented as a blackbody, over the response function of the human eye. We present a one‐parameter function to represent the dependence of the apparent visual magnitude of different stars upon Doppler factor. We conclude with a sequence of computer‐generated figures to show the appearance of Earth’s starfield at various velocities. A ’’starbow’’ does not appear.

A specific round trip situation is set up, and is worked through from the point of view of each twin. The gravitational field equations, and geodesic equations of motion, are solved in the traveling twin’s reference frame, in order to determine the time elapsed on the Earth during the periods of acceleration. The equality of the results obtained by each twin is explicitly exhibited.

Considering a student’s examination as one state of a system which consists of the set of all possible examinations, a new method for evaluating multiple choice examinations is developed by measuring the entropy state of a student’s exam above the ’’thermal background level’’ (the most probable state). The entropy grade is shown to contain standard scoring as a special case when both the number of questions given and the number of possible selections become large. The entropy grade is also shown to be related to the information it takes a student to go from one state of understanding to another state of understanding. The student’s state of understanding is characterized either by his personal probability that his selections will be correct or by experimentally measured probability that the students’s selections were correct.

Some experiments on parametric effects, to be constructed by the students themselves, are described together with the discussion and questions given. Parametric oscillations were produced on a string, in a resonance circuit and a spring pendulum. The importance of phase relations for excitation of the oscillations and of nonlinearities in their stabilization was emphasized. The experiments were so organized that the students would meet unknown phenomena and problems; actually we discovered an unexpected recurrence effect in the spring pendulum.

The elliptic range RE of a ballisticmissile is the length of arc between the two intercepts of the circle of the earth with the elliptic orbit of the projectile. When expanded in powers of the projection velocity v, RE is given by RE=2v2 sinϑ cosϑ/e+O (v6), where e is the eccentricity of the orbit. Units are such that GM=1 and the radius of the Earth is one. The lead term is thus the correct form for the solution to the elementary ballistic problem. It is shown that this lead term not only describes the flight of a snowball, but can also give a good account of the range of an ICBM. Thus, for a projection velocity of v=√2/2 (half the escape velocity) the lead term gives the range for any angle of projection with less than a 2% error.

Factors influencing the premedical requirement in physics are examined. A review is given of the various reasons why physics is important in medicaleducation. The new Medical College Admissions Test is discussed. In looking at the rapid advances in technology in medicine, it is argued that the medical student is presently disadvantaged in physics, simply not having taken enough physics as an undergraduate. It is urged that an additional (applied) course, requiring introductory physics and calculus as prerequisites, be included among medical school entrance requirements.

An effective demonstration of the phase relationships in a series RLC circuit, resonance and Q, is made possible by multiplexing four signals onto a single channel thereby converting a single‐channel scope to four channels. With the circuit explained in the text, it is possible to present a simultaneous display of VR, VL, VC, and Vgen on a single‐channel scope. When the RLC circuit is excited by a variable frequency generator,VR becomes the reference phase. The time base ramp amplitude is made independent of the generator frequency by the circuit permitting four cycles of each waveform to always be in view on the scope, even though the generator frequency is varied from approximately 800 Hz to 18 KHz.

During the past three decades there has been considerable interest in the tensile strength of liquids. However, it is not generally realized that some pioneer experiments on the subjection of liquids to tension were carried out during the last century. Reynolds was one of the workers in this field and he was able to illustrate and measure the tension that a column of liquid could sustain. In the present paper this work of Reynolds is described and assessed and is compared with some of the other related work published in French journals in the last century.

An exact ray‐tracing method has been developed by combining some ideas of Herzberger with the matrix approach to geometrical optics. This method, which can be implemented on a programmable pocket calculator, applies to any conic surface, including paraboloids, spheres, and planes (both refracting and reflecting) as examples. For the aspheric elements, in particular, this method is exact; iterative procedures are unnecessary.

The density matrix is derived that best describes, according to information theory, a one‐dimensional single particle quantum system, when the only information available is the values for the linear and quadratic position‐momentum moments. In addition, moment generating functions and the time development of the system under a simple interaction are considered.

A simple relationship between the pressure, internal energy, and Fermi energy of an ideal ultradegenerate Fermi gas is derived in two ways. The conditions for its validity and its use in simplifying calculations are discussed.

Foucault showed the rotation of the earth by his fundamental pendulum experiment. In the classroom the experiment is usually simulated by a gravitational pendulum on a rotating turntable. By this the situation on the poles of the earth may be simulated, but it is impossible to investigate the dependency on geographical latitude. If we simulate the Foucault pendulum by an elastic steel wire pendulum we get the opportunity to show the entire effect, inclusive of the dependency on geographical latitude.

A novel pendulum is described and analyzed; its spherical bob can roll on a track of the same arc as its swing when suspended by a cord. Comparison of the motion in the two cases shows the effect of the rotational motion in rolling. The motion is analyzed with and without the Lagrangian, and is thus appropriate to analytical mechanics or general physics courses.

The excess surface chargecarrier density,surface potential, and relative capacitance of a metal insulatorsemiconductor diode are determined as a function of the gate voltage using the precise equations and equations derived using the abrupt depletion layer approximation. Calculations are made for different insulator thicknesses, doping concentrations, and temperatures. The results are compared, and their differences are discussed. It is shown that the results are similar except at the accumulation‐depletion and depletion‐inversion transition regions.

A sketch of some topics in distribution theory is given which does no serious injustice to the theory, yet provides techniques for handling the partial differential equations that the most important Green’s functions in physics satisfy; these techniques are usable by students with relatively little mathematical sophistication.